Inscriptions and Captions of the Buddha-vita in Pang gra phug
(click on the small image for full screen image with captions)
The present paper provides the edition and translation of the epigraphs that are combined with the murals on the Buddha-vita in Pang gra phug. It thus complements the paper of Heidi and Helmut Neumann (this volume), who discuss the art-historical aspects of the cycle.
The edition is solely based on the photos which the Neumanns took in 2007 and kindly made available to me. As I have not been to Pang gra phug myself, I could not check the damaged passages in situ, which in some places may have allowed for a somewhat better reading. This disadvantage is not very significant, however, especially because the edition and translation mainly serve as an aid for the identification of the painted scenes, and minor text-critical uncertainties are of little relevance here.
Fig. 1. Sketch plan of the Buddha-vita on the central wall
showing the location of inscriptions A-I and captions 1-17
My differentiation between captions and inscriptions (cf. fig. 1) is based on their different formats. The captions are one-liners that have been placed above or below the band of painted scenes, whereas the inscriptions comprise several lines and are found on panels integrated within the murals. The differences regarding style and function are not as clear-cut, however. Generally, the captions are written in prose, comparatively short and seem to have been intended primarily as identifiers for the scenes which are located below or above them. By contrast, most inscriptions are somewhat longer and have a more poetic flavour. Inscriptions A-C and G are in fact clearly of a metrical structure. D may or may not have been intended as a verse-line of nine syllables, while E, F, H and I are written in prose. Moreover, A-C and G repeatedly express the wish that due to the Buddha’s excellent qualities and deeds “bliss and happiness may come to this place” (or some variant thereof). This wish is missing in the other five inscriptions.
The lower parts of some captions as well as the lower and right edges of some inscriptional panels were clearly painted over at some point in time. This is particularly obvious in inscriptions A, B, E and H, some of which probably comprised more lines than those that are fully or partly preserved.
Both the captions and inscriptions are written in dbu med (tshugs ma type),[22. Cf., e.g., Das 1888: plate III (between p. 46 and 47).] and while they exhibit the usual fluctuations of handwritten sources, they were probably all written by the same hand. For the paintings, Neumann & Neumann (2011: 7) proposed a date to the “end of the 13th century”, and this could, perhaps, also be justified for the epigraphs on the basis of their palaeography and orthography. Yet--going by the limited amount of comparison material that is available--the middle of the 14th century seems somewhat more likely.[3Cf. the Caityapradakṣiṇagāthā inscription in Alchi (Ladakh) (Tropper 2010), the historical inscription in the Gsum brtsegs temple of Wanla (Ladakh) (Tropper 2007), and the Skyes rabs brgya pa cycle in the skor lam chen mo of Zhalu monastery (Central Tibet) (Tropper 2005), all of which have been dated to the 13th or early 14th century. Also cf. Scherrer-Schaub 1999 and Scherrer-Schaub & Bonani 2002.] What especially needs to be pointed out in the Pang gra phug epigraphs, is the complete absence of the da drag, of the ya btags with m before e and i, and of the gi gu log. On the other hand, the redundant ’a rjes ’jug occurs frequently,[4bde’ (inscr. A, l. 6; inscr. B, l. 4; inscr. C, l. 5); ’chi’ (inscr. H, l. 1); dbu’ (inscr. H, l. 4); brgya’ (caption 5 [3 times]); bzhi’ ’i (sic) (caption 9).] and there are two cases of ’a sngon ’jug instead of ma sngon ’jug.[5’gon in inscr. A, l. 2, and ’<g>on in caption 1.] In addition, we find several instances where the genitive particle ’i and the diminutive particle ’u are separated by a tsheg from the syllable they modify.[6lum pi ’i (inscr. A, l. 14); btsun mo ’i (inscr. C, l. 4); lha ’i (inscr. F, l. 1); bzhi’ ’i (sic) (caption 9), <spre> ’us (caption 17); <spr>e ’u (caption 17). On this orthographic peculiarity, cf., e.g., Taube 1980: 12 and Tauscher 1999: 32.]
Remarks on the edition and translation
The inscriptions and captions are rendered in the form of a diplomatic transliteration. All conjectures, emendations (including adjustments of irregular spellings to classical norms)[7No emendations are provided for irregular “sandhi”-forms (ba : pa, du : tu, etc.). Cases of redundant ’a rjes ’jug and of the particles ’i and ’u appearing as distinct syllables (see above) have also been left untouched.] and resolutions of abbreviations (bskungs yig) have been relegated to the footnotes.
As usual, the syntactical structure of the metrical passages can often be understood in more than one way, but I have generally refrained from offering alternative translations and provided the interpretation that seemed most natural to me. Moreover, some familiarity with the main events in the life of Buddha Śākyamuni on the part of the reader is taken for granted, and thus the annotations to my translations have been limited to those aspects that I considered not necessarily obvious. I am aware, of course, that such an assessment is bound to be subjective.
Editorial signs
| {1}, {2}, {3} etc. | beginning of a line |
| * | dbu |
| / | (standard) shad |
| ! | non-standard shad (tsheg shad, etc.) |
| ṃ | bindu (as in many other handwritten sources frequently used instead of m) |
| k | uncertain reading (underlined letter) |
| = | illegible ‘letter’[8Cf. Steinkellner, Ernst & Luczanits, Christian 1999: 15 (n. 12), where ‘letter’ is defined as “any combination of letters in the Tibetan alphabet that occupy in vertical arrangement of the letter sequence the space of a single grapheme”, while letter “refers to the single signs for consonants or vowel modification only”. Thus a ‘letter’ can be composed of up to four letters. E.g., =ng chub sems dpa’ (partly damaged byang chub sems dpa’) or bsod na=s (partly damaged bsod nams).] |
| - | illegible letter(s) that formed part of a partly legible ‘letter’, with one hyphen representing up to three letters[9E.g., -gyal po (partly damaged rgyal po), -rub (partly damaged sgrub), -od (partly damaged spyod) or s-rin (partly damaged sprin).] |
| xxxbaxxx | insertions below the line |
| xxx[ | text at the right side of the panel was painted over |
| intentional deletions in the inscription, with text still legible | |
| ÷ | intentional deletions in the inscription, with text no longer legible; each ÷ representing one deleted ‘letter’ |
Inscription A
 |
{1} ** // dam pa tog kar[10kar : dkar.] dga’ ldan pho {2} brang dam pa ru // mi ’phaṃ[11'phaṃ : pham.] ’gon[12'gon : mgon.] la {3} rgyal tshab dam par dbang skur te // {4} ’dzam gling nyid du glang chen thal {5} kar ltar gshegs gang // kra[13kra : bkra.] shis {6} des kyang gnas ’dir bde’ legs {7} shog // {8} ** // rgyal po’i khab kyi -rong-ye=[14-rong-ye= : grong khyer.] {9} dam =r[15=r : par.] zas rtsang[16rtsang : gtsang.] skras[17skras : sras.] // bud me[[18me[ : med.] {10} skyon bral g.yo’ sgyu spangs pa {11} ===dzes[19===dzes : rnam mdzes or rab mdzes?] yuṃ // lhuṃs su zla b[[20b[ : bcu.] {12} blo -ro=[21-ro= : gros.] ldan pa shag[22shag : sha.] kya’i rig[[23rig[ : rigs.] {13} kra[24kra : bkra.] shis d-s[25d-s : des.] kyang gnas ’dir bde[[26The inscription probably read bde' (i.e., for bde; cf. line 6).] {14} legs shog// * // lum pi ’i[27pi 'i : bi 'i.] {15} tshal ni d-en[28d-en : dben.] zhing nyaṃs dga’ blag {16} sha’i // ya=ga[29ya=ga : yal ga.] nas bzung ltam gyu[[30gyu[ : gyur.] {17} tshangs dang rgya byin ’dud // mkha’ la {18} gshegs te phy-=s bcur -ad[31phy-=s bcur -ad : phyogs bcur pad.] ma byung[32byung : byung // (?)] {19} ==-i====-i=’-i==-e======[33The remaining traces allow for the conjecture (b)kra shis des kyang ding 'dir bde(' ) legs shog (//). Cf. inscriptions B and G.] |
|
|---|---|---|
 |
||
The excellent one, Śvetaketu,[34I.e., Buddha Śākyamuni in spe. Cf. Lv (Hokazono 1994: 286; D: 7v6, Q: 9r6).] conferred the power to the invincible protector,[35I.e., Maitreya.] to the excellent regent, in the excellent Tuṣita palace and came to (this) very Jambudvīpa as an ash-white elephant; and on account of that auspicious one: may bliss and happiness come to this place!
And on account of the son of Śuddhodana (who lived) in the excellent city of Rājagṛha, (on account of) the one who was (already) provided with intellect for ten (lunar) months[36Cf. Lv (Hokazono 1994: 428; D: 42r5, Q: 49v1).] in the womb of the faultless women who had given up (all) craft and deceit, (that is) the most(?) beautiful mother, (on account of) that auspicious Śākya-progeny: may bliss and happiness come to this place!
(In) the grove of Lumbi(nī), a secluded charming place, (with his mother) holding on to the branch of a plakṣa(-tree),[37Cf. Lv (Hokazono 1994: 438 and 440; D: 45r3,5,6, Q: 52v5,7,8).] (Buddha Śākyamuni’s) birth came about, Brahma and Indra paid homage. Going (up) to the sky, lotuses appeared in the ten directions(;)[38It is not entirely clear, to what this clause refers. In Lv (Hokazono 1994: 442; D: 45v2-3, Q: 53r4-5) Brahma and his attendants carry the ‘palace’ (kūṭāgāra / khang pa brtsegs pa) in which the Bodhisattva resided while in the womb of Māyādevī to Brahma’s realm, but no lotuses are mentioned in this episode. Thus it seems more likely that mkha’ la gshegs should be understood as an abbreviation of the newly born Bodhisattva’s taking seven steps towards the various directions, with lotuses appearing under his feet wherever he placed his steps. However, Lv (Hokazono 1994: 444; D: 46r4-7, Q: 53v7-54r4) just contains a description of his walking towards the east, south, west, north, nadir and zenith, which is somewhat at variance with the inscription’s phy<og>s bcur. Note that a similar discrepancy is found in caption 3.] ...[39Read: “and on account of that auspicious one: may bliss and happiness come here today!”?]
Inscription B
 |
{1} ** // gzhal med khang mdzes dam par drang srong mdun bzhag ste / {2} mtshan lta=[40lta= : ltas.] shis pa brjod de ston pa ’byung ’gyur gang // shag rigs {3} bud med ’khor ldan kun ’-u=[41'-u= : 'dus(?)] rgyan btag[42btag : btags.] gang // kra[43kra : bkra.] shi= des[44shi= des : shis des.] kya[[45kya[ : kyang.] {4} ding ’dir bde’ legs shog / bram ze la mtshan bstan pas rab du {5} byung na ni =ngs[46=ngs : sangs.] rgyas ’byung[47The syllable may also have read 'gyur.]====-i=======-i=====[ |
|---|
In the beautiful and excellent divine palace he had been placed before the ṛṣi, and the auspicious prophecy was made: “a teacher (i.e., a Buddha) will appear”; women of the Śākya clan attended to him, he was adorned with an array(?) of ornaments; and on account of that auspicious one: may bliss and happiness come here today!
Having displayed the characteristic marks (of a Buddha) to the Brahmin, ... if he will have become(?) a pravrājaka ... will be/become(?) a Buddha ...[48Because the end of the clause is missing, the syntactical structure of the extant fragments remains somewhat unclear. Probably rab du byung na ni is the beginning of the prediction of the Brahmin, e.g.: “Having displayed the characteristic marks (of a Buddha) to the Brahmin, he (the Brahmin) predicted: “if he (the newly born child) will have become a pravrājaka, he will be/become a Buddha ...”.]
Inscription C
The youth ...[59Read: “was superior”?] to(?)[60bas.] all the gods and men ...[61Read: “in the acts of”?] strength, arts, writing, calculation and archery ...[62Read: “(archery), in power, means and sacrificial service;”?] to dispel wrong ideas of the Śākya(?)-progeny, he was surrounded by(?) noble women; and on account of that auspicious one: may bliss and happiness come to this place!
Inscription D
 |
{1} * // byang chub seṃd[63seṃd : sems dpa'.] The Bodhisattva is training in writing and calculation. |
Inscription E
 |
{1} lhas byin kyis glang |
The corpse of the elephant that was killed by Devadatta decayed, and subsequently the town was filled with a stench; at that time, the Bodhisattva threw the corpse outside with his big toe, and thus ... called “the Indian elephant hole(?)”(.)[70Cf. Lv (Hokazono 1994: 566; D: 75r1-2, Q: 87r3): yatra ca pradeśe sa hastī patitaḥ, tasmin pradeśe mahad bilaṃ saṃvṛttaṃ yat sāṃprataṃ hastigartety abhidhīyate (at the place where that elephant fell down, a big pit appeared, which is now called “elephant hole”) / glang po de phyogs gang du lhung ba’i phyogs de shong chen po zhig tu gyur nas / da (da : de Q) ltar glang po’i shong zhes bya ba yin no (after the place at which that elephant fell down turned into a big hole, it is now the “elephant hole”).]
Inscription F
 |
{1} lha ’i bu bzhis |
The four devaputras lifted the Bodhisattva together with his horse into the air, and after the circumambulation of his father’s palace he went to renounce the world.
Inscription G
 |
{1} * // pho brang nas byung rga nad ’chi’ ba las |
After he had emerged from the palace and had seen the results of old age, sickness and death, his mind had been completely stunned, and (thus) in the presence of the gods, up in the sky, he cut off his dark blue hair in order to move beyond the 3 worlds. And on account of that auspicious one: may bliss and happiness come here today!
Inscription H and I
 |
{1} tshong dpon ga go na[74ga go na : ga gon.] dang bzang After the merchant(s) Trapuṣa and Bhadrapāla[75In Lv his name is given as Bhallika / bZang po (Lefmann 1902, vol. 1: 381 and passim; D: 182r6 and passim, Q: 206r2 and passim).] had presented offerings (to the Buddha), they were asking for the dharma(.)
|
{1} sargyang rgyas[76sargyang rgyas : sangs rgyas.] la bdud kyis bar chad
{2} byas pas / bar chad ma nus ste
{3} slar srod la bdud bye ba dung byur[77byur : phyur.]
{4} btul ba //
After Māra, trying to create obstacles for the Buddha, did not bring the obstacles about: later, in the evening, the subduing of a quadrillion of māras.
Caption 1
’-on[78The inscription obviously read ’gon (i.e., “irregular” spelling of mgon).] po byams pa rgyal tshab du dbang skur ba //
Conferring the power to the regent Lord Maitreya.
Caption 2
* // glang po thal kar kyi phrug gur sku sprul te byang chub sems dpa’ yum kyi lhumsu[79lhumsu : lhums su.] zhugso[80zhugso : zhugs so.] //
Transforming his body into an ash-white elephant child, the Bodhisattva entered the womb of the mother.
Caption 3
* // lum pa’i[81lum pa'i : lum bi'i or lum bi ni'i.] tshal du yuṃ gyi rtsib ma’i go bar nas sku bltaṃ ste[82bltaṃ ste : bltams te.] phyo== bzhir[83phyo== bzhir : phyogs bzhir.] gshegs te pad ma bdun bdun byung
In the grove of Lumbi(nī) he was born from the space between the ribs of his mother, walked (seven steps)[84Cf. Lv (ed. Hokazono 1994: 444): bodhisattvaḥ pūrvāṃ diśam abhimukhaḥ saptapadāni prakrāmati sma ... dakṣiṇāṃ diśam abhimukhaḥ saptapadāni prakrāmati sma ... paścimāṃ diśam abhimukhaḥ saptapadāni prakrāntaḥ ... uttarāṃ diśam abhimukhaḥ saptapadāni prakrāntaḥ.] into the four directions,[85In Lv (ed. Hokazono 1994: 444) the Bodhisattva is also said to have walked (seven steps) towards the nadir and the zenith: adhastād diśam abhimukhaḥ saptapadāni prakrāntaḥ ... upariṣṭād diśam abhimukhaḥ saptapadāni prakrānta[ḥ].] and each time seven lotuses appeared (at the places that he stepped on)(.)[86Cf. Lv (ed. Hokazono 1994: 444): yatra yatra ca bodhisattvaḥ padam utkṣipati sma, tatra tatra padmāni prādurbhavanti sma.]
Caption 4
tshangs pa dang rgya[87rgya : brgya.] byin kyi[88kyi : kyis (or, morphologically more correct, gyis).] sku khrus gsol /
Brahma and Indra performed the ritual bathing (of the newly born Bodhisattva).Caption 5
==dus[89==dus : de'i dus(?)] su blon mo lnga brgya’ dgod[90dgod : rgod.] ma lnga brgya’ lo= pa[91The inscription probably read loḍ pa (i.e., bskungs yig of la sogs pa; cf. Shes rab 2003: 597).] thaṃd[92thaṃd : thams cad.] la yang phrug gu lnga rgya[93rgya : brgya.] lnga brgya’ ya=btsas[94ya=btsas : yang btsas(?)] so //
At that(?) time, five hundred children respectively were also(?) born to five hundred wives of ministers,[95Probably corresponding to kulikā / ya rabs ‘noble women’ in Lv (Hokazono 1994: 464; D: 51v2; Q: 60r2).] to five hundred mares,[96Lv relates the birth of ten thousand female and ten thousand male foals: daśa vaḍavāsahasrāṇi, daśa kiśorasahasrāni (Hokazono 1994: 464); rte'u mo khri dang / ... rte'u pho khri (D: 51v3, Q: 60r2-3).] and also(?) to all the others.[97According to Lv (Hokazono 1994: 464; D: 51v3, Q: 60r2-3) there were also born ten thousand girls (daśa kanyāsahasrāṇi / bu mo khri), eight hundred female servants (aṣṭau dāsīśatāni / bran mo brgyad brgya), eight (Tib.: five) hundred male servants (aṣṭau dāsāśatāni / bran lnga brgya), five hundred female elephants (Tib.: elephant children) (pañca kareṇuśatāni / ba lang gi phrug gu mo lnga brgya) and five hundred male elephants (Tib.: elephant children) (pañca piṅgaśatāni / ba lang gi phrug gu pho lnga brgya po dag). Also cf. the verses preceding this prose passage (Hokazono 1994: 460-462; D: 51r4-v1, Q: 59v3-7).]
Caption 6
ston pa byon tsa na braṃ ze ltas[98The syllable also could be read as rtas, skas (“irregular” spelling of skad?) or rnyas; the latter alternative makes little sense, however.] zer[99zer : gzer or gzir?] te braṃ ze brgyal te ’gyel lo //
When the teacher (i.e., the Buddha in spe) arrives, the Brahmin points out the signs(?),[100Or: “expressed his delight” (rtas zer), “spoke out” (ska{d} zer), “was delighted and distressed” (rtas gzer/gzir”? At any rate, there can be little doubt that the caption refers to Asita’s visit to king Śuddhodana, who brings his son to the ṛṣi and prompts him to make his predictions about the child’s future. The paintings above the caption show the king holding the young Bodhisattva in front of Asita, and to the right of this the ṛṣi can be seen lying unconscious on the ground. Note that in Lv (Hokazono 1994: 480; D: 56r2, Q: 65r3), the ṛṣi is just said to have cried, shed tears and sighed (prārodīd, aśrūṇi ca pravartayan, gambhīraṃ ca niḥsvasati sma / mchi ma blags te [te : te / Q] ngus nas shugs ring du phyung), but not to have sunken down and fainted.] and then the Brahmin sinks down and faints.
byang chub sems dpa’ gyad ’dran pa
The Bodhisattva competing in wrestling(.)
byang chub sems dpa’is[101dpa'is : dpas (an obvious makeshift correction by the scribe).] shing ta la bdun lcag= ky-rnga[102lcag=ky-rnga : lcags kyi rnga.] bdun =g====g=-e mda’ -e=======-o===-i==[103A rather speculative conjecture that can be more or less justified by the remaining traces is phag rgod btsugs te mda' de 'phangso / 'phog ste sa phyogs phigs nas] nas mda’ chu khron pa skyes ces bya ba byungo[104byungo : byung ngo.] //
The Bodhisattva ...[105Read: “set up“?] seven tāla trees, seven iron drums ...[106Read: “(and) a(n image of a) boar, and then he shot that”? Lv (Hokazono 1994: 590; D: 80r2-3, Q: 93r3-4) has seven tāla trees (sapta tāl[āḥ]; shing ta [rta Q] la bdun), one iron drum (ayasmayī bherī; lcags kyi rnga) and an image of a boar (varāhapratimā; phag rgod kyi gzugs). The text of the inscription tallies with the painting below it, which shows seven trees, seven drums and a(n image of a?) boar.] arrow ...[107Read: “After it hit (the targets) and pierced the place (where it landed)”?] the so-called “gift of the arrow water spring”(?)[108In Lv (Hokazono 1994: 590; D: 80r3, Q: 93r5) the spring is simply called “arrow spring“ (śarakūpa [iti]; mda’i khron pa [zhes bya ba]). The expression of the inscription is strange, especially the concluding skyes. Perhaps the scribe originally wanted to conclude the caption with “mda’i chu khron pa skyes //” (i.e., “the ‘arrow water spring’ came into existence”) and then came up with a makeshift correction.] appeared.
Caption 9
byang chub seṃs dpa’ rab du byung bar chas pa la rgyal ÷÷chen[109÷÷chen : chen; judging from the remaining traces, it seems that the scribe erroneously repeated rgyal and that he (or some other person) later corrected this mistake by effacing the syllable.] bzhi’ ’i dmagis[110dmagis : dmag gis.] ==l[111== : skul or bskul(?). Cf. the title of Lv’s 13th chapter: saṃcodanāparivart[a] / bskul ba’i le’u (Hokazono 1994: 668; D: 94v3, Q: 110r3): There, in addition to the four great kings (called lokapālas / ’jig rten skyong bas in Lv) many other beings are reported to be involved in the exhortation of the Bodhisattva. Chapter 15 describes at some length how each of the four great kings pays homage to the Bodhisattva before he leaves home (Lefmann 1902, vol. 1: 217-8; D: 108r4-v6, Q: 125r7-126r1). Each of these four passages ends in (bodhisattvaṃ) namasyamānaḥ / (byang chub sems dpa’ la) phyag ’tshal zhing ’dug go, i.e. “was paying homage (to the Bodhisattva)”. Yet, the conjecture phyag ’tshal is too long for the available space.] ba //[112There follow some indistinct traces. I take these to be blots or smearings rather than the remains of earlier text.]
The army (or armies) of the four great kings exhorting(?) the Bodhisattva to set out to become a pravrājaka.
Caption 10
btsun mo rnaṃs kyis chibs la=jus[113la=jus : la 'jus.] ste bshumso[114bshumso : bshums so.] //
The ladies held on to the horse and wept.[115Cf. Lv's description of the events in the palace after the Bodhisattva is found missing (Lefmann 1977, vol. 1: 227-239; D: 112v4-117r1; Q: 130v6-135r8). While there the women are also said to have cried (passim), only Gopā is pictured as holding on to (the neck of) the horse: (gopā ...) kaṇṭhe 'avalambhyā hayavara aśvarāje (for the saṃdhi, see BHSG: 34) / (sa 'tshos ...) rta yi rgyal po rta mchog de yi mgul nas 'jus (Lefmann 1977: 234; D: 115r5; Q: 133v1).]
Caption 11
Caption 12
 |
mchod rten |
Caption 13
 |
ba rtsi[118rtsi : rdzi.] mos ’o ma dra== = [119dra== = : drangs pa(?)] The cow-girl having offered(?) milk |
Caption 14
 |
chu ’o[120chu 'o : chu bo.] na ra ==r[121The remaining traces allow for the conjecture la byor (byor being a fairly frequent “irregular” perfect stem of ’byor).] ! He arrived(?) at the river Nairañjanā.[122Obviously, na ra is one of the frequent garbled renderings of Sanskrit names, toponyms etc. in Tibetan.] |
Caption 15
kun shes l-ḍ[123l-ḍ : laḍ(?) or loḍ; at any rate almost certainly a bskungs yig of la sogs (cf. Shes rab 2003: 597).] pa lnga sde b=ng[124b=ng : bzang.] po la bden bzhi bstan te chos kyi ’khor lo bskor ro //
(The Buddha) taught the four (noble) truths to Ājñāta etc., (that is) the five excellent disciples, and turned the wheel of the dharma.
Caption 16
lha= byin[125lha= byin : lhas byin.] kyis glang =n[126=n : chen.] rbad te btang bas phya=gi[127phya=gi : phyag gi.] sor mo las seng ge spru= te[128spru= te : sprul te.] btang bas btulo[129btulo : btul lo.] //
Because Devadatta had incited an elephant and released it, (the Buddha) magically created (a) lion(s) from the finger(s) of his hand, released it (or them) and thus tamed (it [or them]).[130Cf. Vv (D: nga 239v1, Q: ce 221v4): de nas bcom ldan ’das kyis (kyis : kyi Q) phyag g.yas pa’i mthil nas seng ge ral pa can lnga sprul to // des de rnams kyi dri tshor na (na : nas Q) gcin dang rtug pa shor te ’bros par brtsams; i.e.: “Then, the Bhagavat magically created five long-haired lions from the palm of his right hand. After he (i.e., the elephant) had scented them, he discharged urine and excrement and started to run away”.]
Caption 17
== ’us[131== ’us : spre ’us.] shing thog phul te dga’ nas g==-yas pa=-e ’u[132g==-yas pa=-e 'u : gar rtse byas pas spre 'u(?); a similar phrase occurs in the Buddha-vita of the White Temple in Tsaparang: dga' nas gar rtse bas (khron par lhung ...) (cf. Tropper, forthcoming). In any case, the caption refers to the story found in Vv (D: nga 143r2-v5, Q: ce 137v4-138v1). There, however, the monkey is said to have given bee's honey (sbrang bu'i sbrang rtsi) to the Buddha.] khron par ’gri==[133'gri== : 'gril (//)(?)]
A monkey gave fruit (to the Buddha); cheerfully performing a dance,(?) the monkey fell(?) into a well(.)